Announcing Builtvisible’s MBO – Everything you need to know

Caitlin Collins

4th December 2019

Where we’ve come from

If you followed our 10th anniversary celebrations earlier this year and read ‘It’s been 10 years… Builtvisible is celebrating our 10-year anniversary’ you’ll know our story – a blog turned agency, started by Richard Baxter and grown in all senses, organically!

4 years ago our Managing Director, Geoff Griffiths, took the reigns on management and further growth of the agency. In this time he built out a senior management team, an industry-leading product offering and an internal culture that makes Builtvisible the competitive total package that it is today, winning recent long term contracts with the likes of Avis, Hunter Boots and Towergate Insurance.

Geoff, as Managing Director has completely re-engineered the way the business works. As a result, Builtvisible’s inner workings are almost unrecognisable to me. Geoff has developed the business into a highly professional digital agency with a client roster we could have only dreamed of just a few years ago. The team he has built is an exceptional group of people and deserve every success that is coming their way.

Richard Baxter

Where we’re going

On Monday this week, Geoff and his team acquired Builtvisible LTD in a vendor financed MBO. Richard retains a significant ownership of the company and is incredibly excited about what the future holds for all of us.

This is a fabulous opportunity for a stellar management team to really secure the benefits that should come from their incredibly hard work over the past 24 months. I’m delighted and proud to see the agency brand I’ve worked with for a decade in such safe hands. Geoff is executing a long term client acquisition strategy coupled with cutting edge product development in SEO, Content Marketing, Analytics and Digital PR. Builtvisible’s exceptional client retention rate and account level performance says everything to the quality of the management and the employees in this company. I wish Geoff and his team all the best of luck for the future, and look forward to sitting on the board as a Non-Executive Director.

Richard Baxter

This change represents the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Builtvisible, increasing our independence and providing increased control over the direction of the business.

This transition levels up our independence and I am incredibly excited about the opportunities our new structure presents to our industry-leading team – allowing them to further buy in to something that is already very special indeed.

This move has increased our ability to develop and retain industry-leading talent, invest back in to the performance-driven product offering our clients benefit from so consistently and ultimately achieve our goal of delivering the most meaningful agency experience in the world.

Richard’s on-going support and product leadership has been invaluable since I took over in 2015 and I am thoroughly looking forward to continuing to work alongside him in this new capacity.

Geoff Griffiths

Michelmores LLP acted for Richard Baxter, with the management team being advised by Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP. Corporate Finance assistance to all parties was provided by Thomas Westott and Partners. Grant Masom also joins the board as Director along with Geoff Griffiths and Richard Baxter.

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